Analysis/Opinion: NTSB Releases Final Report On Fatal Icon Crash

The probable cause was no surprise but was nevertheless hugely troubling

By Robert Goyer

The NTSB released earlier this week the final report on the crash of an Icon A5 amphibious LSA at Lake Berryessa, California, on May 5th of this year. The findings were consistent with what Icon suspected early on in the investigation, that the pilot accidentally flew at low level into a canyon with no possible exit. In its report, however, the Board made barely a mention of what is the most important factor behind the tragedy.

May 5th was a a beautiful day at the Icon headquarters in Vacaville, California, when longtime employee Jon Karkow, an experienced pilot with a good deal of time in the A5, took new hire, Cagri Sever, who was not a pilot, on a flight to help familiarize him with the A5. After an uneventful departure and climb to 4,500 feet, Karkow descended the A5 down to low level over the lake and then entered a small canyon. As it turned out tragically, the canyon was surrounded by high terrain on all sides, terrain which the NTSB concluded could not have been out-climbed by the A5. Karkow attempted to make a 180 degree turn in the canyon, but there was insufficient space to make the turn, and the airplane hit high terrain before it could complete the turn. Both Karkow and Sever were killed in the crash.

Courtesy of KTVU

The authors of the report share the widely held speculation that Karkow thought he was flying the A5 into a different canyon, one presumably that he had previously successfully flown through. The report suggests that once the A5 had entered that box canyon, there was no way for the plane to have been flown back to safety.

In its findings of probable cause, the report lists the pilot’s judgment as a primary factor. But the accident and the report should give the industry and Icon in particular pause to rethink the way that sport planes are presented to potential customers. It’s critical that we not model behavior that we know carries with it a great risk of tragedies like this one. For years, Icon has been suggesting through its marketing that the A5 is the aerial equivalent of a sport boat. At AirVenture 2016, the company showed video of the A5 being maneuvered aggressively at very low level over terrain and water. The clear implication, which this publication took exception to at the time, was that such low-level maneuvering was within the acceptable operating range for the A5. With expert pilots who know the plane and are willing to accept the great additional risk of low-level maneuvering, one could argue that this could be the case. It’s much harder to make the case to take along passengers not knowledgable about the increased risk with low-level maneuvering flight.

For decades, the NTSB has pointed out that low-level maneuvering flight is one of the riskiest things that a pilot can do in a small plane, because all it takes is one mistake for things to take an unrecoverable turn for the worse. If this could happen to an experienced pilot who made just one error, mistaking the entry to one canyon for another, then just imagine how much riskier such flight is for pilots brand new to aviation who buy a new LSA to go have fun at low level over water and terrain. The loss of two employees, including Karkow, who was a founding designer of the A5, must be a crushing blow to Icon. Hopefully it will give the company and all of us in the sport aviation world occasion to think about how we present sport flying to people who are not fully aware of the high risk associated with flying low.

To get more aviation news delivered to your desktop or mobile device, sign up for our weekly eNews.

I thought it was a misprint when I read “Final Report.” No doubt the electronic flight data available to the team expedited the conclusion, and perhaps ICON wanted a fast report. I’m not sure I’ve ever seen such an NTSB Final Report published so quickly. Sad day for sure.

One cannot help but wonder whether the pilot could not have climbed at least high enough to deploy the airframe parachute.

I just looked at the Icon website again. And sure enough there are even now several images and footage showing fun, but risky maneuvering. Emphasis on fun and adventure, associated risks are not mentioned.

I fly in the traffic pattern with Icon as they fly with customers from KVCB on a daily basis. Prior to the accident, there were numerous occasions when I observed Icon pilots acting in ways I would judge to be unsafe and arrogant. Since this accident, they have become more responsible and aware of the needs and limitations of those of us who share the airspace. I urge the Icon management to continue to create a culture of safety and curtsy in their pilot group.

If they really were looking ahead, they could see the terrain ahead, and that is was a box canyon, and, they probably were close to gross weight with two passengers. ???

My best suggestion, since they could see there wasn’t room to turn around, they should’ve landed straight ahead on the water, then turned around…likely would’ve had room to get out of there. However, I don’t know what the terrain would’ve been like.

I had a mountain flying course while living in Denver, and built up a lot of hours flying bodies in and out of numerous mountain communities, and I had experiences of just what I described.

How tragic and unnecessary but all flying machines have an avoid curve, particularly helicopter yet we often see inexperienced and experienced pilots lose their lives because they have ignored the safety data specific to the craft they fly. The A5 is an amazing little aircraft but should be treated as such, not a jetbike with wings

We don’t need more warning lights and other structures cluttering things up to make up for a pilot’s mistake. Especially in beautiful country, where flashing lights and towers degrade the enjoyment of the landscape and the experience of nature. In backcountry flying we learn about terrain, performance, density altitude, and all the other things to consider without messing up the landscape.

I am glad Icon is changing its culture to one of safety and responsible recreational flying. That is how we keep folks from flying into impossible box canyons or exhibiting other unnecessarily risky behavior.

Folks might want to read and follow the backcountry flying Code of Conduct developed by the Recreational Aviation Foundation.